Titian Studio Pottery Blog

 Look away now if you don't like spiders! Sherwood Spider Vase - Side one The original spider vases, with the hand-painted black spider, were made during the Sherwood era , sometime between 1949 and 1954 at Waitakere. A rather realistic spider waits patiently for its next meal on a web strung between two branches. Pinecones sit at the base of this triangular vase.  Why do I like these vases? They remind me of webs sparkling with dew at dawn in our native garden we planted over twenty years ago. I try to be aware of them not only for their beauty, but because they're soooo sticky if you walk into one at head height. Never been one for spiders though, especially the huntsman that come in unexpectedly through our windows. I've only briefly met a white tail spider and that was inside the hood of my raincoat I'd just put on. Danny spotted it and told me, 'Stand Still!! Stand Very Still!!' before flicking it away.   Sherwood Spider Vase (Side two) With the early examp...

 Pansy flowers evoke happy childhood memories of my Nana's garden . Looking into this phrase, pansies relate to loving thoughts, remembrance. They are February's birth flower. I have happy memories of my Nana's flower gardens. I remember the velvety petalled pansies with their 'painted' orange, yellow, violet and burgundy faces lined up along the narrow concrete path as I pedalled past on my trike. They appeared to nod with happiness just like my Nana's face when I visited. She loved her flower garden especially the perfumed stock, daphne, sweet peas and old English roses. I almost get a hint of their perfume while I'm writing this post. Whenever I see pansies my thoughts go back to the fun times at Nana's house on Albert Road in Riverhead.   Cameron Brown created many wall vase designs, each one individual in design and colourings. He enjoyed designing the moulds but his passion was the glaze combinations. This is evident with the pansy wall vases. It w...